Hi All,

My husband and I are flying into CDG on Friday, September 2nd (5:35pm) and leaving Sunday, September 9th (12:35pm). We both love Paris -- have been before and will probably be back again -- but also wanted to take some time to drive through Normandy. We are not big museum people, more wanderers who enjoy taking in the sights and sounds and feels of a city, with some cafe breaks in between! We enjoy history and the main purpose of this trip is to visit the historical WWII sites, but I would not call us "history buffs" by any means...I also want to find some local producers to visit for tastings of wine, cheese, cider, etc.

Below is my initial plan, however, I'm concerned that it's too much driving and being on the go. I'm inclined to cut the Amboise part of the trip, but do not know where to add additional time? Or is there somewhere else (closer) we should consider adding? I'm also trying not to get stuck all the way out at MSM leaving us with a long drive Sunday morning morning before our flight.

Friday - Arrive Paris (sleep 3 nights)
Monday - Drive to Giverny, afternoon in Honfleur (sleep Honfleur)
Tuesday - Morning Honfleur, drive/afternoon in Bayeux (sleep in Bayeux)
Wednesday - D-Day Beach tours/visit (sleep in Bayeux)
Thursday - Drive to Mont Saint Michel, afternoon visit the abbey (sleep MSM)
Friday - Drive to Amboise, visit Chateaux (sleep Amboise)
Saturday - Visit Chateaux (sleep Amboise)
Sunday - drive to CDG to catch flight home

Thanks in advance for your help!

Your itinerary look splendid just a suggestion:

Chenonceau, the most famous and perhaps sublimely beautiful of all Loire chateaus is just a short lovely drive from Amboise - could easily do both castles in one day

Amboise is a fair 'ole drive to CDG-- just over 3 hours IF all goes well. Assuming you're catching an international flight, you will need a very early start.

I'm guessing around 6:00 am at the latest depending on when your airline wants you there and keeping in mind you have to return the rental car, etc.

Just me but I would want to stay closer Saturday night if catching an international flight.

Advise now is to arrive at CDG 4 hours before you flight to be able to go thru all checks, etc.

If a four-hour arrival before the flight is required, well, you can do the math.

Places in Normandy you're missing:

the excellent Peace Museum (WWII) at Caen;

the Pays d'Auge, inland Normandy with a cider route, calvados, cheese (Pont l'Eveque), cute towns, a checkerboard chateau (St. Germain de Livet);

Rouen, a more or less medieval city where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake;

Deauville/Trouville, sea resort towns.

Also while in Bayeux don't miss the Bayeux Tapestry, a sort of cartoon history of the Norman Conquest of England -- in embroidery. It's really much better than it sounds.

Wow, I had no idea that suggested advice was to arrive at CDG 4 hours before an international flight. CDG is a beast of an airport, but that is insane. Fortunately, we live in Krakow so are still within Schengen. Even so, I will plan to be at the airport early.

Thanks all for your input. I visited Chenonceau close to 10 years and agree it's magnificent. There are several chateaux in the area that I would love to spend a day (or several) exploring/fantasy house shopping! But I think that will have to be another trip.

I love the Pays d'Auge idea. Perhaps after MSM, we will work our way back that way and spend a day eating and drinking our way around...I will have to look into it more to plot a route! And St. Germain de Livet is the perfect addition to the itinerary to whet our appetite until we can make it back to the Loire Valley.

Is it worth spending a second night in Honfleur to then spend a full day in Deauville/ Trouville? I was thinking of stopping in Deauville for lunch or in the early afternoon for a bit, on our way to Bayeux, but wondering if it is worth a full day. The Tapestry is (somewhat reluctantly, if I'm being honest) on the agenda while we are in Bayeux, so glad to hear it is much better than it sounds!

Your trip sounds nice but let me suggesta few alternatives to consider.

On Thu I'd drive around the Pays d'Auge countryside and visit some of the beautiful towns such as Beuvron-en-Auge. MSM is flooded with day- trippers and tour buses during the day but if you arrive around 4-5pm they are leaving and there is plenty of daylight left. Last Fall I stayed in one of the hotels just across the bridge and toured it after dropping off my bags, back at nite to see it lit up after dinner (with few restaurants you need to be seated by 7pm, they aren't open late), and then a quick visit again in the morning before leaving.

I'd save Amboise and the Loire for another trip since it is about 300km from MSM and there is plenty left to see in Normandy/Brittany as Mimar pointed out. To the list I'd add Cancale if you like oysters, St Malo and/or Dinard, and also Dinan inland. I liked the Rough Guide to the region, and also got Stu Dudley's itinerary from him via http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-itinerary.cfm

Also you are working your way away from Paris making your return trip to CDG long. How about changing it around so you start at the farthest point and end up Honfleur? You could take the train to Rennes, pick up a car, then drive to Dinan and start your stay there. And another option for the end of the trip is to stay in a town on the rail line to Paris. I ended my trip last fall in Rouen, about 1 hour by train to Paris. Although with all the strikes this year taking the train might be risky.

To answer your questions/comments in your latest post I also thought the tapestry was fascinating. I actually went to see it twice! I like impressionist paintings and a number were set in the Deauville/Trouville area so I went to visit Trouville. It was nice to walk around (you can still identify some of the houses from the paintings) but after a stroll and lunch I left. I'm not sure if there's enough to spend a full day in the area unless you want to go to the casino or sit on the beach for a few hours (and keep in mind it may be raining they day you visit)

did you visit Chambord - the biggest and most monumental of Loire castles - if not it would be easy to include on a drive from Amboise to the Paris area -

you could also easily drive via Chartres and the great cathedral too if you have all day to get to CDG.

Amboise has an interesting street of troglodyte houses - some are B&Bs - https://www.google.com/search?q=trog...w=1745&bih=868

And you can also spend the day in the Loire area and turn in your ar at St-Pierre-des-Corps train station and get direct TGV trains to CDG - saving that long-haul drive and instead visit some other castles or wineries, etc.

I like your plan! Yes, of course, there are a ton of other things you could add, but I think you selected a nice range of options. JMO.

Once again you all have provided many thought provoking ideas that have sent me down the research rabbit hole! Thank you.

I'm considering starting in Rennes as miket suggested -- it is the furtherest point out. I think I know the answer to this but...is catching a 18:47 train (direct CDG - Rennes) wishful thinking if our flight is scheduled to arrive at 17:35?? There is a 20:50 train, but it arrives in Rennes after midnight and is not direct. Alternatively, we can still leave on Monday and just head in the reverse direction towards Rennes and end the week near Honfleur for easier return to CDG.

I'm trying to avoid staying in Paris on both ends of our trip to cut down on travel time and hotel changes. Unfortunately there are no trains into CDG Sunday morning in time for our noon flight (from Saint Pierre des Corps, Rennes, Caen, Rouen, etc) so it would make sense to shift our Paris time to the end of the trip...so many puzzle pieces!

Rather than an extra day in Honfleur, I think I will add it to stay in Dinan and visit St. Malo and Cancale (love oysters - thank you) and make our way over to MSM late afternoon as suggested.

I will check out the Rough Guide - haven't used them before - and also email Stu Dudley.

Thanks again for all of the insight everyone!

I like your plan too.
Be sure to visit La pointe du Hoc, it is for me THE place where you really can still 'feel' it.

As for CDG, 4 hours in advance is insane. PQ obviously needs more time, since he always flies totally plastered. ;-) (love you, PQ)

I went to China from CDG in april. It is obviously an international flight. COming by train I arrived 3 hours in advance. After 45 min i was waiting at the lounge, having stopped en route to eat. My colleague arrived at CDG 1h 15 before flying time (admittedly short, but he flies more often than me and lives nearby). He joined me after 30 minutes.
(and then we had to wait 2 hours because flight was delayed).

official site of CDG says you MUST check in min 40 min before flying time.
http://cdgfacile.com/informations-pa...nregistrement/

Air France gives advice to be 2 hours in advance to be comfortable.
http://www.airfrance.be/BE/fr/common...l-aeroport.htm

I haven't read all the posts but I would reverse the trip--drive to Normandy from CDG and end your trip in Paris. That makes getting to CDG easy by taxi with no worries about traffic, car return, etc.
We did this on a longer trip and had a wonderful trip to Normandy (only).

Return the car to Orly, maybe with a stop in Chartres. The car return there is very easy.

"is catching a 18:47 train (direct CDG - Rennes) wishful thinking if our flight is scheduled to arrive at 17:35??"

Even if you did catch that train you'd still arrive after the car rental offices have closed so you'd have to spend the nite in Rennes (not that you'd want to pick up a rental car at 10pm anyway and start driving). So the options are spend a nite in Paris or in Rennes. I'd choose Paris because it is easy to get into Paris by RER or taxi even if your flight is delayed. Stroll around, have a nice dinner. And you can get a deep discount TGV fare the next morning for a train that you are sure to catch no matter what time you arrived in Paris. They have hourly trains Saturday starting at 7:08am. The downside is that if you went to Rennes the nite before you could get a start with your car in the morning rather than closer to noon. Incidentally when I picked up my car in Rennes they were doing construction so the car rental offices were in a temp bldg to the right of the station as you exit it, across from the bus terminal.

One complication of trip planning is there are so many options, its hard to decide! Another one if you haven't booked your flights is to look into flying into Rennes and out of CDG.

Lots of flights into CDG- esp non Air France ones IME - land out in the middle of the airport and have shuttle buses to the terminals and these can take ages to come and slowly take part of the group first, etc.